


Jurisprudential

by lcdsra



Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [10]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lcdsra/pseuds/lcdsra
Summary: /ˌjo͝orəˈspro͞odns/noun1. relating to the science or philosophy of law or a system of laws.Or: I have an excuse to explain a system of ideas.
Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935553





	Jurisprudential

**Author's Note:**

> AU: You’re born with a random tattoo that changes color based on your soulmate’s mood.
> 
> Character(s): Rune, Sun  
> Relationship(s): None  
> Warning(s): None

Rune knew that the big boss, known only by the code name ‘Sun’, was grooming them to take their place.

They were sure they were the only person they knew who took meetings with Sun, at least constantly. Even so, they always met virtually and Sun’s voice wasn’t easily recognizable.

Either way, they were taking a meeting and Rune was currently sitting alone in their office, alone in a virtual meeting. They fidgeted in their seat, uncomfortable. Sun was a few minutes late, not unusual. Either they were very forgetful or very busy.

A mechanical _blink_ brought their attention to the screen. Sun’s name and blank screen finally popped up.

“Hello, Commander.” Rune greeted.

Sun’s voice was staticky as they echoed, “Hello, Commander.”

“How are you?”

“I’m good. I’ve got a new project for you, since you finished up the one with Earth, called Project Air.”

The task they were given, nicknamed ‘Project Earth’ was to learn the process Earth agents took in order to investigate claims and complaints. This one, if naming conventions were to stay true, would involve the Air agents.

“Okay, what would it entail?”

“On your desktop, there should be a folder named _Clouds_ , and inside, a file named _Dos_ ,” They typed the word into the chat, and Rune copy-pasted it. “Print it out for me.”

Rune nodded, and shut off their camera and microphone. Indeed, on their computer was that file. Strangely, they didn’t remember putting it there, downloading anything, or even anyone stealing their laptop.

Maybe one day they’d learn the secret.

Their printer sprang to life and spit out the file. There were five boxes with the different sections of Elemental Air labeled as such. Field had a subcategory, but handler, medical, development and cyber were singular.

In each section were brief descriptions of what each did, and important agents to know. Rune noted that Clair was one of them in field. They turned their video and mic back on, and said, “Elemental Earth was not this big.”

“Air is gigantic.” Sun replied, and they could almost hear a smile in their voice. “STARS was supposed to be balanced, but honestly it’s like the sports division versus the arts division.”

Rune frowned at them. They hadn’t gone to an American public high school but put the pieces together. “How did it get so big?”

“Need bred invention.” They replied. “It started with just the field agents, like Fletcher is right now. You sponsored her, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I don’t know how much you’re involved with her, but her job requires medical attention usually, so they asked for funds for that.”

“When did handlers come in?” Rune asked, tapping the paper in their hands.

“That kind of came with agents. It was assumed senior agents would eventually become handlers.”

Rune genuinely was not excited for this mission. Of course they understood the importance of knowing every single bit about an organization, but they also knew to just trust that the experts knew what they were doing.

“Am I learning in each of these sections?”

“To some extent.” Sun replied. “It’ll be rushed, but there’s also another reason you’re going to join.” That was a surprise. “There’s rumors of leaks. The commanders notified my agents and they decided it was serious enough to show me.”

‘My agents’. Basu had vaguely mentioned being an agent to someone else, but the fact she was a direct line to Sun meant she was probably more powerful than even them. “But why am I looking for them?”

“Reyes said the leak will probably target someone relatively new to Air, but also powerful. You’ve also shown disdain for their leadership.”

Rune quirked a brow. “I’ve shown a reasonable amount of criticism.”

They couldn’t see Sun’s expression but knew it was one of skepticism. “You called Fletcher a child incapable of leading, Reyes as reckless and apathetic, and Collins as a passive, uncaring leader.”

“All are true. They’re criticism.”

A pause. Sun probably rolled their eyes, or something similar. “Anyway, the commanders, or at least Collins and Reyes, know why you’re going in.”

Rune glanced at the time frame. “Three years?”

“Field alone demands at least a year, but their agents will insist for more.” Sun explained. “Development and medical will probably be quick, but handling might take just as much time as field. I’m also asking you to learn basic coding from cyber.”

This began to feel like a full time job instead of a little side project. “What about my other duties?”

“They’ll be distributed to other Elementals.” Sun replied easily. They breathed in, then sighed quietly. “I’m beginning to realize you’re not excited.”

Rune raised a brow, as if to ask, you think? But instead, they said, “This is just a major departure from what I’m used to.”

Sun seemed to take time to consider their words, before they said, “I’m not going to lie, it is. But Air is an important part of STARS as a whole, and understanding what they’re doing is crucial to understand their impact.”

Realistically Sun probably also had to do these things from their perspective, and STARS was experiencing a recent rise of acclaim, credibility, and power. A lot of that was thanks to Elemental Air. “I’ll do it.”

“You can seek out Fletcher, if you’re more comfortable with someone you know already.”

They nodded. “I’m guessing the information is in the folder?”

“Correct.”

The file was called, rather uncreative, _Info_ and detailed certain people they could work with and an outline of the goal. Interestingly, Collins wasn’t a recommended person to get mentorship from. Reyes was specified as a difficult but solid handler. Fletcher’s entire history was in the file too, but her summary was basically that she knows how to work with new or inexperienced agents.

“When does it start?”

“At the beginning of next year. Take the rest of this one for Elemental Fire.”

They nodded. “Thank you.” While they were busy exploring the rest of STARS, they didn’t want to abandon the branch they started in. Who knew that they’d go from being an intern for the financial organizer to the head of the branch?

They discussed a few more details of the project before disconnecting the call. Rune clicked into the _History_ file and found many, many pages of words waiting for them. Air was, like Sun had said, just as small as the rest of the branches in the Elementals.

But while finance management, HR, and agricultural development didn’t merit growth, Air almost required it.

At the beginning, the branch seemed to grow too rapidly for the leaders at the time to control, and a rival organization, what was basically Elemental Air but only that branch, nearly toppled it. A clearer separation of power was established, the constellation naming only kept because of the part of STARS it was in.

An explosion a few years ago contributed to some Air agent’s distrust of the rest of STARS, isolating them. Thinking back, Rune actually remembered allocating money for the repair of the building. In fact, even then they were doing jobs no finance person were supposed to do.

Rune gave the news of both Collins and Reyes’s promotions, remembered giving a half-conscious Reyes a new card to replace the one lost to the rubble and flood.

Either way, it was a major event with a long list of information to know when discussing it. Reyes’s got her prosthetic arm after, Collins’s leadership was questioned heavily, and interestingly, the third commander title wasn’t officially granted to anyone.

Unofficially, Basu became involved with Air, and seemed to step in as a commander for the other two.

And then, more recently, Clair broke records by being the youngest commander in Elemental Air to date. Her Anniversary was also coming up, a side note added, seemingly as an afterthought.

There were indications when a new category was added and who ran it. The field and handling were started long ago, and the most recent was cyber, in the late 1990’s.

Rune closed _History_ and opened _Sections Details_. Field was described as combative, requiring training in weaponry and self-defense, and had a subcategory called scout. Scout was, predictably, searching ahead of the main force for any unplanned ambushes.

It was also the biggest section, at least the one that wasn’t ‘cross-sectioned’. Rune skipped to the bottom to learn the terminology. ‘Cross-sectioned categories’ were Elemental Air’s way of explaining agents in those categories were sometimes not Air agents. The section served agents of the Planetarium or other Elementals.

There was a ‘Limited’ label that some categories had, which explained someone had to have studied on a certain topic before applying for that position. Rune guessed it would apply to medical mostly.

They scrolled back up to the descriptions of each category. Handling came next, which involved talking to the field and scouting agents. Handling had a subsection too, called mission planning. It seemed unofficial, since most handlers were also mission planners, but there were some mission planners who didn’t ‘handle’ agents.

A side note explained that ‘handle’ meant manage, or make sure the agent was safe and took care of themselves before, during, and after missions.

Medical was, as they predicted, labeled as limited. Agents who were called Air agents specialized in trauma surgery and emergency situations. Understandable, considering that the field agents, and even sometimes the handlers, got hurt constantly.

Interestingly, development was also classified as limited. It was also cross-sectioned, and Air specialized in weapons development, while there were also architectural, and energy and food optimization developers.

And, of course, cyber. Cyber was labeled as cross-sectioned, because the section seemed to protect all of STARS and its technology. There weren’t any equivalents in the Planetarium, as far as Rune knew. The details were much more vague than the other sections, oddly, or maybe they just didn’t understand the words in the context.

Rune closed the file and skimmed the others in the folder. There were entire profiles about important figures in Elemental Air, most of the information they knew, but some they didn’t.

Apparently Reyes and Fletcher were soulmates, and Collins’s soulmate was confirmed dead (the ink he was born with faded away a few years back). A sense of dread and discomfort filled them at the soulmate status, so they closed that file pretty quickly.

Their own ink was currently a gloomy grey. Maybe their soulmate was bored right now. They wondered what their mood looked like to their soulmate, because as far as they knew, curiosity showed up as different colors for each person.

Rune closed their computer, rubbing their eyes. They were genuinely interested in the inner workings of Elemental Air, but the sheer size of it was alarming.

No wonder Air was the branch being threatened by moles and leaks. The moles probably found safety in numbers, and Air was the perfect target.

**Author's Note:**

> Fightin' for my trust and you won't back down  
> Even if we gotta risk it all right now, oh (now)  
> I know you're scared of the unknown (known)  
> You don't wanna be alone (alone)  
> I know I always come and go (and go)  
> But it's out of my control
> 
> \- Sunflower by Post Malone, Swae Lee


End file.
